Cyclists have been warned to be aware of the speed that they are riding at. It comes after a group were caught travelling at nearly 40mph on a 30mph road on Dartmoor. Devon and Cornwall’s Road Policing Team took to Twitter on Sunday to raise awareness of the issue.
Wait, why only a warning? Why no speeding ticket?
Well, Reader, hold onto your hat...
The group was stopped by the police and offered appropriate words of advice. However as there is no speed limit for cyclists, no further action was taken.
YCMIU, could you?
H/T: IanJ via email
7 comments:
If the police were so minded, a charge of cycling "without due care and attention" under the Road Traffic Act 1988 could be made. Unfortunately, as far as the police are concerned cyclists are a protected species (much like climate change nutters) and thus effectively immune from prosecution.
IIRC the was a law of "Riding Furiously".
I look it up and found...
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991) it is an offence to ride recklessly on a road or in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner. These offences are covered by sections 28 – 30 of the Act and this article will consider each one in turn.
http://www.cyclelaw.co.uk/cycling-offences-riding-dangerously-recklessly-carelessly-or-inconsiderately
In future I'll "Identify" as a cyclist if I get stopped for speeding...
But if there is no relevant speed limit then it would be up to Plod to demonstrate the dangerousness, inconsiderateness etc.
Which is difficult, I guess. Even if Plod was so minded.
Furthermore, any cyclist capable of consistently riding in excess of 30mph is one serious fucker who absolutely knows what they are doing and what their legal rights & obligations are... probably more than we do, I would imagine.
Change the law? Sure - that seems to be the valid recourse. But remind me again about libertarian principles.
Not that different from Jeremy Vile - they want the protection of the law without having to comply with the law.
Mind you, I did find it amusing that he lost his (probably) very expensive pushbike.
The speed limits might not apply to arrogant lycra children, but there are things called careless and dangerous cycling that do.
There is simply a willful refusal to apply ANY sort of law to this plague, which is precisely why it is a plague.
"If the police were so minded..."
Sadly, as with so many other offences, they weren't. Too much like hard work?
"...an offence to ride recklessly on a road or in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner. These offences are covered by sections 28 – 30 of the Act ...."
Interesting!
"In future I'll "Identify" as a cyclist if I get stopped for speeding..."
😂
"Which is difficult, I guess. Even if Plod was so minded."
They all have dashcams, though...
"Change the law? Sure - that seems to be the valid recourse. But remind me again about libertarian principles."
No, it seems there's plenty of law. What needs to be changed is the mindset of those paid to enforce it.
"Not that different from Jeremy Vile - they want the protection of the law without having to comply with the law."
Spot on!
"There is simply a willful refusal to apply ANY sort of law to this plague, which is precisely why it is a plague."
And we've seen in other posts what that can lead to....
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